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We will be holding a class for anyone interested in upgrading to the General License. The classes will be held Monday evenings from 6PM to 8PM, starting February 5. This class will be held on Zoom.

We will be using the ARRL General Class License Manual. The manual is usually available on Amazon for a lower price than the actual ARRL store. Be sure to get the current book, for 2023 to 2027. This is the 10th edition.

If you are interested in this class sign up using the form on the license class page.

BARC holds license classes periodically to support those interested in getting into our hobby, as well as current hams looking to upgrade. If you are interested in a class, or know someone who is interested, please use the link below to sign up. BARC membership is no required and the classes are free.

Starting September 7th, we will be holding license classes on Zoom twice each month. Classes will be 6PM to 8PM (ish) on the first and third Wednesdays.

The plan is to begin with the Technician license materials and continue directly into the General and Amateur Extra materials.

Anyone interests should fill out the form on classes and testing page. Those who sign up will be sent a link to the Zoom class.

To recognize the contributions to the community made by radio amateurs, the city council has declared this Amateur Radio Week. BARC members at our regular Friday morning breakfast posed with the official proclamation.

Members of the Barstow Amateur Radio Club meet each Friday morning at 7AM for an informal breakfast. Any hams, or those interested in becoming hams, are welcome to join us at Denny’s, 1200 E Main Street in Barstow.

Field Day is less than two weeks away, June 25 to 26.

Any licensed Amateur is welcome to join the club’s Field Day effort.

We will have a special “Get On The Air” (GOTA) station to encourage Hams to do just that. If you are a Technician, licensed less than a year, or even someone without a license but interested in what Hams do, you can try operating on HF bands with support from a licensed and experienced coach.

You can also participate even if you don’t come to our Field Day site. WA6TST will be operating on VHF and UHF, so anyone with a transceiver can contact us. Even a dual band HT that can reach the area of the hospital can contact us on simplex frequencies, such as 146.52 and 446.00 MHz, as well as various bands and modes on HF.

Remember, give us a try between 11AM Saturday and 11AM Sunday, June 25 to 26.

Don’t miss the May meeting is Thursday, May 12. We will be having a brief presentation introducing the use of a NanoVNA for ham radio. We will also be discussing specifics of our Field Day plan and be able to flesh out some of the details. Please plan to attend at 7PM on Thursday, May 12, at the American Legion Hall, 2181 Armory.

The ARRL Field Day page has been updated with location and other details. We are planning a three-station club entry (3A) located at Barstow Community Hospital. All hams are welcome to participate, and we will be having a “GOTA” station to allow anyone interested in amateur radio to try it out, as well as allow Technician class hams to experience HF operation. We will also have a VHF/UHF station, to allow contacts with local hams. No matter what class of license you have, or for those who don’t have a license yet, there will be opportunities to join the fun.

Field Day coming soon.

It is only about two months until Field Day. Andy AJ6WB was appointed Field Day coordinator at the April 14th meeting and will be sending out a survey. Please be watching for it and if you don’t receive it contact Andy at jrsynthetics@gmail , or by phone, or by radio at the next net. (April 19th at 7:00 P.M. on WA6TST repeater system) Let’s work together to make this the best most fun Field Day ever.

B2V a success

The Baker to Las Vegas race was completed this year and the Barstow Amateur Radio club was Able to provide Communications and support for the four San Bernardino County Sheriff teams at the Shoshone Base. The post was set up on the 8th and began providing communications at 0800 on the 9th of April. It was not shut down until 2200 after the last runner had passed. One of the Sheriff teams finished 4th in class. Complete details with pictures were presented at the regular club meeting on the 14th of April. Thanks to Bob KO6BOB who coordinated with Jack K6XS and Bill N6WL who assisted.

This year members of the Barstow Amateur Radio Club will again be involved in providing communication support for the Baker to Las Vegas foot race. The first communications co-ordinations meeting was held on March 26th via Zoom. If you would like to help, contact our Vice-president Bob KO6BOB at KO6BOB@gmail.com as soon as possible.